Observer News: SCC to vote on funding for multi-purpose building
SCC to vote on funding for multi-purpose building
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Penny_Fletcher on 09/10/2013 17:55:00
By PENNY FLETCHER
Sun City Center Community Association board members say they hope residents
approve the funding for the newly-planned multi-purpose building because it will
alleviate congestion in the existing common rooms.
There will be two opportunities to vote, Oct 14 and 15, said association
President Ed Barnes. Voting Oct 14 will be in the Sandpiper Room of the North
complex from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Oct. 15, at the South complex in Community
Hall, Rooms 3 and 4, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If residents approve the expenditure, up to $664,000 may be spent for the new
building, which will be built at the junction of North Course Lane and North
Pebble Beach Boulevard, in the parking lot just north of the lawn bowling
greens, said Project Manager David Floyd.
The money is already in the association’s coffers, but amounts of that size
must be approved before the board can spend them.
The money is raised from home resales. Each time a home is resold, $1,500 is
charged and put into the association’s Capital Fund; this is the same amount
charged by the county for impact fees when new homes are built.
“We promised the community that this board would not start any capital project
until we had saved the money for it,” Barnes continued.
No target dates, including groundbreaking, have been scheduled because the
expenditure has not yet been approved, but if passed, board members say they
expect that the building will be finished by the fall of 2014.
“This will give many of our clubs more room,” Floyd said.
Barnes explained that the building is planned to alleviate heavy use by groups
that are now crowded in the current facilities.
The association has approximately 10,000 members, and some of the largest clubs
are now in rooms Barnes describes as “broom closets.”
“We really need to give them more space,” he said in an interview Sept. 24.
“There is a lot of congestion on the existing campus. This building will
provide adequate space for up to 22 clubs, counting the 19 dance clubs currently
using other facilities, which will then be available for other groups.”
The building is to be 5,600 square feet and will house the Mac Club and the
Photo Club and some others. The Photo Club has more than 400 members and also
puts on contests and shows. “They’re stepping all over each other in
there,” Floyd said.
Once the 19 dance clubs move to the new building, the larger existing rooms they
now use will be free for other events, he added.
Besides the clubs, Sun City Center Samaritan Services will also occupy space in
the building through a partnership agreement with the CA.
“The association will own the [whole] building, but the Samaritans will pay
for all the design and construction costs [of their portion] and they will be
separately metered so they will also pay their share of the utilities once the
building is completed,” Barnes explained. “The Samaritans may not be a part
of the CA but they do a valuable service for the community.”
When construction begins, the Samaritans have stated they will provide the CA
with escrow funds and continue to supply funds as “construction burns them,”
Barnes added.
Plans for the interior and exterior of the new multi-purpose building are on
display in the hallway of the Atrium building and also available for view in the
association office.